A listening Church – A Synodal Church “Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” (Rev 2:29) The world in which we live, and which we are called to love and serve, even with its contradictions, demands that the Church strengthen cooperation in all areas of her mission. It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium. (Pope Francis, Address Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Synod of Bishops, 2015) A synodal Church is a Church which listens, which realizes that listening “is more than simply hearing”. It is a mutual listening in which everyone has something to learn… all listening to the Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of truth” (Jn 14:17), in order to know what he “says to the Churches” (Rev 2:7)… (Pope Francis, Address Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Synod of Bishops, 2015) Pope Francis’ calls for “a listening church, a synodal church,” at all levels of church life. The Holy Spirit, he says, must be given breathing room to bring forth such a church. Quotes The Spirit’s instrument for interpreting divine revelation is the sensus fidei, a “sense of the faith”, or better, a sense for the faith. It is capacity which the Spirit gives, along with the gift of faith, for Parish to a every baptized believer and to the church as a whole. A synodal church is a church that listens to the Spirit communicating through the sense of all the faithful, the sensus fidelium. Bulletins (Ormond Rush, ‘Plenary Council Participation and Reception: Synodality and Discerning the Sensus Fidelium’, plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au ‘Resources’) Synodality is a constitutive element of the Church. & Newsletters In this Church, as in an inverted pyramid, the top is located beneath the base. (Pope Francis, Address Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Synod of Bishops, 2015) A Listening Church - A Synodal Church We need to practice the art of listening, which is more than simply hearing. Listening to All the Voices (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 171) Listening, in communication, is an openness of heart Reading Signs of the Times which makes possible that closeness without which genuine spiritual encounter cannot occur. A Sense of Faith Listening helps us to find the right gesture and word which shows that we are more than simply bystanders. With a Discerning Heart (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 171) A Gaze Fixed on Jesus I want to throw open the windows of the Church so that we can see out and the people can see in. (Pope John XXIII, quoted at the time of his Vatican II Council announcement, 1959) With Hope and the Power of Love Now is the time for each local Church to assess its fervour and find fresh enthusiasm for its spiritual and pastoral responsibilities, by reflecting on For a Better World what the Spirit has been saying to the People of God … - God’s Kingdom Come (Pope John Paul II, Novo Millennio Ineunte, 2001, 3) 1 Listening to All the Voices Together we are on a journey of listening to God by listening to one another. We invite all Australians to engage in an open and inclusive process of listening, dialogue and discernment about the future of the Catholic Church in Australia. Your voice is needed – join in. (Plenary Council 2020 website: www.plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au) The voices of lay people are heard much more frequently now in the Church …They organise themselves within parishes and in various groups and movements to build up the Church and to influence society at large, and they seek contact via social media with other believers and with people of good will. (Sensus Fidei in the Life of the Church, International Theological Commission 2014, 116) I have looked into your eyes with my eyes. I have put my heart near your heart. (Pope John XXIII to a prisoner in Rome, Dec. 25, 1958) “We need to look at our cities” — and thus all areas where the life of our people unfolds — “with a contemplative gaze, a gaze of faith which sees God dwelling in their homes, in their streets and squares... He dwells among them, fostering solidarity, fraternity, and the desire for goodness, truth and justice. This presence must not be contrived but found, uncovered. God does not hide himself from those who seek him with a sincere heart” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 71). Reading The Signs of the Times Whenever we attempt to read the signs of the times it is helpful to listen to young people and the elderly. Both represent a source of hope for every people. The elderly bring with them memory and the wisdom of experience, which warns us not to foolishly repeat our past mistakes. Young people call us to renewed and expansive hope, for they represent new directions for humanity and open us up to the future, lest we cling to a nostalgia for structures and customs which are no longer life-giving in today’s world. (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 108) …the Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel. (Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, 1965, 4) The People of God believes that it is led by the Lord's Spirit, Who fills the earth. Motivated by this faith, it labours to decipher authentic signs of God's presence and purpose in the happenings, needs and desires in which this People has a part along with other men of our age. For faith throws a new light on everything, manifests God's design for man's total vocation, and thus directs the mind to solutions which are fully human. (Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, 11) ...the Church should never depart from the sacred treasure of truth inherited from the Fathers. But at the same time she must ever look to the present, to the new conditions and the new forms of life introduced into the modern world. (Pope John XXIII, Opening Speech to the Second Vatican Council in St Peter's, Vatican, 11 October 1962) 2 The circumstances of the Church in Australia in our time, including the patterns of change that are evident within the community of the Church, the issues confronting the Church in modern multicultural and secular Australia, the increase in entrusting responsibility for and leadership of the Church’s mission to laity, and even the changing face of the Episcopate, prompt the Church to review, analyse, and discern the signs of the times, to listen anew to the Spirit, and to chart its course into the future.’ (Archbishop Mark Coleridge) A Sense of Faith “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth…You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you.” (John 14:17) The holy people of God shares also in Christ's prophetic office… (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 12) The sensus fidei fidelis is a sort of spiritual instinct that enables the believer to judge spontaneously whether a particular teaching or practice is or is not in conformity with the Gospel and with apostolic faith …intrinsically linked to the virtue of faith itself. (Sensus Fidei in the Life of the Church, International Theological Commission 2014, 49) …the faithful have an instinct for the truth of the Gospel, which enables them to recognise and endorse authentic Christian doctrine and practice, and to reject what is false…called the sensus fidei, and it enables Christians to fulfil their prophetic calling. (Sensus Fidei in the Life of the Church, International Theological Commission 2014, 2) On the one hand, the sensus fidei refers to the personal capacity of the believer, within the communion of the Church, to discern the truth of faith. On the other hand, the sensus fidei refers to a communal and ecclesial reality: the instinct of faith of the Church herself, by which she recognises her Lord and proclaims his word. … (Sensus Fidei in the Life of the Church, International Theological Commission 2014, 3) Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God... (1 John 4:1). As she awaits the return of her Lord, the Church and her members are constantly confronted with new circumstances, with the progress of knowledge and culture, and with the challenges of human history, and they have to read the signs of the times, ‘to interpret them in the light of the divine Word’, and to discern … the sensus fidei fidelium has an essential role to play. (Sensus Fidei in the Life of the Church, International Theological Commission 2014, 70) It can take a long time before this process of discernment comes to a conclusion… patience and respect are needed … (Sensus Fidei in the Life of the Church, International Theological Commission 2014, 71) From the beginning of Christianity, all the faithful played an active role in the development of Christian belief. The whole community bore witness to the apostolic faith, and history shows that, when decisions about the faith needed to be taken, the witness of the laity was taken into consideration by the pastors … (Sensus Fidei in the Life of the Church, International Theological Commission 2014, 72) 3 The holy people of God shares also in Christ's prophetic office; it spreads abroad a living witness to Him, especially by means of a life of faith and charity and by offering to God a sacrifice of praise, the tribute of lips which give praise to His name.